MONTPELIER — The Vermont House has passed a bill requiring life insurance companies to make a good-faith effort to locate beneficiaries after a policyholder dies.

House Speaker Shap Smith said that in too many cases, insurance companies make little or no effort to track down survivors and thereby avoid paying on a policy.

The bill awaits Senate action. It would require life insurance companies to maintain and monitor a “Death Master File,” a program that matches a person on the file and the Social Security number, name or date of birth of an insured annuity owner.

Smith said the bill seeks to ensure that when someone buys life insurance in the hope of providing security for loved ones, that actually happens.